Perth 9s Discussion

[Moey]

9s are in about 4 weeks time...

I know some hate the 9s, some love it (me), some dont care or think its a waste of time. Its fair, we all entitled to our opinions.

I personally think we should take this years comp seriously. Pick a squad that can shake it up. Give the keys to the kids and tell them to go crazy, to show us their skills. Let them entertain and build confidence. We might find a star in the making.

No idea how big the squads are but i would personally choose following players

Wakeham
Smith
Okenbur
Katoa
Harper
Rfm
CHN
Toomaga
Ogden
Kalache

Throw in Tolman Hoppa and Napa for experience as well. Plus whoever else i missed out on..

What's everyone else's thoughts.

 

[Howard Moon]

I'd like to see Meaney there personally, think the format would suit him

 

[Snake]

I’m a 9’s fan and also believe we should send a strong team and try to win it. Meaney would be my first player picked, followed by Remis, CHN, Hoppa, OKu, Wakeham and these young guys like Harper

 

[Natboy]

I’m looking forward to it and have my tickets. I’m hoping Pay takes it a bit more seriously than Hasler did.
It’s good to see the young guys get blooded but would love to at least make the finals this time so I can watch more dogs games

 

[Spoonman84]

It’s a Mickey Mouse comp I hope we treat it like we did when Des was here. You can’t build any sort of combinations in the Nines and you don’t really get anything out of it besides young fellas getting the experience in front of a crowd. Wakeham would be great at the Nines but with his injury record I wouldn’t be risking him at all.

 

[GDR]

its not nice watching your team being uncompetitive regardless of the competition .... most of us would hate the 9's because we have sucked so badly at it as a team..

hard to get excited over a game we usely get flogged at..

id like to see our boys compete in absolutely everything this year.. i wanna see Jacko punching on when the coin toss doesnt go our way!!

 

[JayBee]

For me, it's a step above a trial match, but an echelon below a FG match.

When you're a die hard RL fan - any footy to get you through the offseason will do.

Am I hanging off the edge of my seat in anticipation for it? No
Will I watch it? Yeah for sure, at least a decent portion of it
Do I care if we win? Always
As much as a FG game? Please.

As for the team - just put our speed demons in there, a couple of level headed forwards (Elliot, you're out of contention) and we should HOPEFULLY make the semis for the first time in our existence.

 

[Raysie]

I'm pretty excited! There seemed to be a clear correlation between success at the 9s and success in the NRL Premiership going off previous years.

Also in the last 2 seasons we've started flat and almost 3 weeks behind from the get-go. Getting some of our key players on the field early may be what we need as well.

 

[albatross]

T

9s are in about 4 weeks time...

I know some hate the 9s, some love it (me), some dont care or think its a waste of time. Its fair, we all entitled to our opinions.

I personally think we should take this years comp seriously. Pick a squad that can shake it up. Give the keys to the kids and tell them to go crazy, to show us their skills. Let them entertain and build confidence. We might find a star in the making.

No idea how big the squads are but i would personally choose following players

Wakeham
Smith
Okenbur
Katoa
Harper
Rfm
CHN
Toomaga
Ogden
Kalache

Throw in Tolman Hoppa and Napa for experience as well. Plus whoever else i missed out on..

What's everyone else's thoughts.

The Nines are better than nothing but I'd treat them like a trial, including giving some young guys a go. The NRL is the only thing that matters so everything should be aimed at that. We should take whatever we can of relevance out of the Nines, towards being better in the NRL.

Defence isn't that relevant in Nines but they give a chance for a few forwards to get some match fitness (sort of), but our backs should take the chance to get out there and just try some stuff. See if we can throw it around a bit and get passes sticking on the chest. I agree with your leaning to more mobile forwards in the squad - for that reason I'd have Stimson too. I'd also give Tass and Averillo a crack. They seem to have the ability to change directions quickly and are fast. That always good against less defenders, plus I'd also just like to see how they go. Wakeham has to be a dead cert and I'd have Hoppa sharing the organising with him (and also captain).

 

[Novocastrian]

All players mentioned would be good but I would also like to see a couple of those younger guys like Averillo and schoupp.

 

[JayBee]

I'm pretty excited! There seemed to be a clear correlation between success at the 9s and success in the NRL Premiership going off previous years.

Also in the last 2 seasons we've started flat and almost 3 weeks behind from the get-go. Getting some of our key players on the field early may be what we need as well.

Great point.

Rabbitohs, Cowboys, Roosters (all NRL premiers in and around the time they won) and Parramatta (in 2016 albeit stripped - granted, they also finished 13th that year, but 4th the following year) - have all won it - where as we have failed to progress in all editions of them. The closest we got was I think 2016, when we won 2 pool games, but missed out because of shellacking we copped in the first game v Warriors.

Is this a correlation between success in the 9s and the NRL? Probably a little difficult to correlate this with only 4 editions happening prior to this year. For me, it could come to confidence, but also the fact that our focus has been our defense - which is null and void in this format. We have scored 10, 32, 37, and 26 points in a total of 12 games. Which is 9 points a game, on average.

For a game that is considered to be about attack - we average in the same format here, as we do in the NRL (obviously way less minutes on the field). And keep in mind - this is with bonus try's.

 

[Boxer]

Only reason I don’t like it cause it’s not a serious comp you can put anyone to play.

 

[BELMORE]

I’m hanging for any footy at the moment

 

[Spoonman84]

Does anyone know the restrictions on players who can make the nines squad? Seeing as the Chooks are using a AFL player I’m guessing you can use players out of the top 30?

 

[Jackson_1994]

The team I would like to see for 9s I would like to see most of the young talent get a go in with only a hand full of 1st grades in it not worth the risk with injury for a 9s tournament don't get me wrong I like watching it but not worth risking some of the bigger names
1. Nick Meaney
2. Isaiah Tass
3. Morgan Harper
4. Jake Averillo
5. Brandon Wakeham
6. Raymond Faitala-Mariner
7. Jackson Topine
8. Corey Harwira-Neara
9. Sione Katoa
Bench
10. Aaron Schoupp
11. Javvier Pitovao
12. Matt Doorey
13. Bailey Biondi-Odo
14. Sebastian Winters-Chang
15. Jack Cogger
16. Ofahiki Ogden

 

[Spoonman84]

The team I would like to see for 9s I would like to see most of the young talent get a go in with only a hand full of 1st grades in it not worth the risk with injury for a 9s tournament don't get me wrong I like watching it but not worth risking some of the bigger names
1. Nick Meaney
2. Isaiah Tass
3. Morgan Harper
4. Jake Averillo
5. Brandon Wakeham
6. Raymond Faitala-Mariner
7. Jackson Topine
8. Corey Harwira-Neara
9. Sione Katoa
Bench
10. Aaron Schoupp
11. Javvier Pitovao
12. Matt Doorey
13. Bailey Biondi-Odo
14. Sebastian Winters-Chang
15. Jack Cogger
16. Ofahiki Ogden

That’s the perfect line up for the Nines in my opinion apart from Wakeham. I could see it doing a bit of damage too.

 

[Natboy]

Does anyone know the restrictions on players who can make the nines squad? Seeing as the Chooks are using a AFL player I’m guessing you can use players out of the top 30?

I can’t remember how many of your top 30 you need to send

 

[TwinTurbo]

The team I would like to see for 9s I would like to see most of the young talent get a go in with only a hand full of 1st grades in it not worth the risk with injury for a 9s tournament don't get me wrong I like watching it but not worth risking some of the bigger names
1. Nick Meaney
2. Isaiah Tass
3. Morgan Harper
4. Jake Averillo
5. Brandon Wakeham
6. Raymond Faitala-Mariner
7. Jackson Topine
8. Corey Harwira-Neara
9. Sione Katoa
Bench
10. Aaron Schoupp
11. Javvier Pitovao
12. Matt Doorey
13. Bailey Biondi-Odo
14. Sebastian Winters-Chang
15. Jack Cogger
16. Ofahiki Ogden

So if you are concerned about injury why are you including CHN (or RFM, or Ogden) and not, for example, including Stimson? Surely as a new guy he would benefit the most from time spent on the field with SOME of his NRL teammates?
If risk of injury is truly a concern then why pick any NRL players? The risk for each player is still the same, why not leave them all out?

Personally I'd pick the complete NRL side, those who have completed the full pre season. Players still on light duties and those having just resumed training I would exempt.

Go Dogs

 

[Spoonman84]

So if you are concerned about injury why are you including CHN (or RFM, or Ogden) and not, for example, including Stimson? Surely as a new guy he would benefit the most from time spent on the field with SOME of his NRL teammates?
If risk of injury is truly a concern then why pick any NRL players? The risk for each player is still the same, why not leave them all out?

Personally I'd pick the complete NRL side, those who have completed the full pre season. Players still on light duties and those having just resumed training I would exempt.

Go Dogs

The NRL had rule for the Auckland Nines were you had to send 1 of your top 5 players. I have no idea how they came up with a top 5 though. So you can’t send a squad full of juniors.

 

[Dawain87]

Can we send our Womens team?